A Heroes Song
by Lex.W
Summary: Lea joins the team after being held captive by HYDRA for two grueling, long years. Will she fit in with the team and get control of her powers or just become a liability for SHIELD and the Avengers?
1. Chapter 1

**New story :) Lea finds her way into the lives of the Avengers, here's her story :) Let me know what you think...it's been a long time! **

* * *

Some people understand the feeling. It's the moment you always wish to go back to, the moment right before you lost everything you thought you'd always have in your life. Not many 16-year-olds understand the feeling of losing both of their parents. The total ache that literally hurts your heart. Lea dreamed about the moment it happened, she had only been 14, but everything had changed. HYDRA found her after her foster family frantically called 9-1-1 at 3 am after one of her nightmares. Granted, Lea had accidentally blasted a hole into the side of their building. Lea was pretty naive so when the strange man approached her and told her he was with the authorities and going to bring her somewhere new she believed him.

"Happy two years" Lea mumbled quietly to herself, she hadn't spoken to anyone since that night, the only things that escaped her lips were screams and quiet mumbles to herself. Laying on the small rubber mat Lea shivered slightly, pulling the itchy wool blanket tighter around her. Lea tried to hide her feelings, even the tiny ones, HYDRA was always watching her, always analyzing her. They referred to her as E-11, from what Lea had learned that stood for Experiment 11. For a little while, she fought against the name, insisting that her name was Lea Shepherd. Soon, HYDRA broke her down, wiping most of her memories and any inkling of her old self, including her name. HYDRA constantly was analyzing her, it was hard to resist what they asked when they were all bigger, stronger and left her with little sleep. She was strong though, they wanted her stronger, more advanced than the others. They wanted her to succeed where they had failed previously. Lea or E-11 realized after a few months that nobody spoke to her, not that she spoke back in fear of pain. HYDRA had succeeded in many ways, E-11 was strong, she had advanced healing, super strength, and energy projection powers, and she was obedient to a fault. She always did as they said, many times they didn't have to beat or threaten her although sometimes they just did it for amusement. Other ways E-11 was a failure, she was stubborn and fearful of many things, her emotions often got the better of her causing her to go out of control. After around two years E-11 realized that there were fewer experiments, there were long periods of time without food or contact with anyone. The darkness in the room began to frighten her and made her long for human contact.

* * *

A darkness fell over the sky despite the time, it was only 3 pm but dark clouds covered the blue sky.

"It's going to rain," Wanda said to nobody in particular, Nat and Steve nodded looking at the clouds before the trio entered the Quinjet.

"Where are we off to?" Clint asked turning in the passenger seat as Steve entered

"HYDRA base, Northern Canada" Steve replied taking a seat nearby, as Nat and Wanda did the same, saving the pilots chair for Sam or Tony

"Yea pretty remote and pretty cold kids so buckle up," Tony said, making an entrance, as usual, followed by Sam, Peter, and Bucky. The ride only took a couple of hours so it gave the team to go over the logistics of the mission. Steve and Tony would team up and head through the front, Sam would scout from above, Peter would stay near the Quinjet, Nat and Wanda would head through the back and Clint would go around on his own along with Bucky doing the same.

That's how Steve and Tony had ended up finding her rather than any other team member. Steve and Tony had found her completely by accident. They along with the rest of the Avengers were on a scouting mission of a seemingly abandoned HYDRA base in Northern Canada.

"Say Cap this base doesn't look particularly well used," Tony said quietly, wandering through the abandoned hallways

"It reminds me of high school," Steve said quietly, his head pivoting around, trying to take in the disorganization and disarray

"Oh hush high school didn't look this bad"

"Yeah maybe not to you, Stark," Steve said the last part with a slight jab

"Could you two quit it" Nat called over the coms, Tony could picture her annoyed face perfectly, making him smirk before Steve stuck his arm out smacking him in the arc reactor.

"Would you..."

"Shh" Steve cut Tony off before he could say anymore, gesturing ahead with a nod, Tony squinted into the darkness, before letting his faceplate close, giving him a better sense of what the Captain was getting at. That's when he heard it too, breathing, they wouldn't have heard it if it wasn't for the slight hitch of breath every few seconds. The pair went into Avenger mode, all talking stopped as they headed stealthily towards the noise. Steve frowned heavily, and Tony almost did the same until he noticed why. They came upon a girl, she was about the same size as Peter. She was in rough shape though, the only way to tell she was alive was that she was breathing heavily.

"Hey gang, we are going to need to head back, we found a bit of a...surprise," Tony said, as Steve gathered up the young woman in his arms, he looked as though he could easily just crush her, but he was in full Captain America mode.

* * *

To say that the team was surprised was an understatement. Clint and Natashia were understandably very wary and wanted to keep their new find locked away, she was found at a HYDRA base after all. Bruce was far more kind wanting to check her over, make sure she was okay for transport. Peter stayed far away, he had been on the Quinjet in case anything happened, I guess this means something happened. She looked far too fragile and a bit like him when he was in a bad place for him to want to get any closer to her just yet.

Wanda had also kept quiet, she knew what it was like to sign up for HYDRAs experiments, only to find out the side you thought you should be fighting for is the one you should be fighting against. Still, she sometimes felt that internal struggle, finding new ways to combat the feelings of guilt and remorse, along with dealing with the loss of her only family. Wanda recognized some of the markings on the girl, a shiver ran up her spine when she recognized some of the marks and remembered the tools that were used to make them. Steve gave her a look but she just shook her head, glancing towards Bucky whos eyes had darkened with memory.

Sam was in the pilots' chair ready to take-off when Nat and Clint insisted on a second look around if she had been left there what else had been left there as well.

"Good idea, Tony, Bucky, why don't we stay as well, send Sam, Bruce, Wanda and the kids back to the base," Steve said

"I can take care of her" Bruce replied, Wanda nodded in agreement

"I'll call Fury for another pickup, we can probably get one within the hour" Sam added, he looked on the fence with the whole idea, not wanting to leave Steve or anyone else at a HYDRA base abandoned or not.

"So it's settled, be good kids," Tony said departing the jet with the others in tow, looking a minute longer at Pete who looked like he had seen a ghost and nodded to him

* * *

E-11 woke up her brown eyes took only seconds to adjust to her new surroundings. Immediately she knew she wasn't at the HYDRA base anymore. She wasn't tied down, and people were talking softly nearby. Whenever she was subject to experiments, she wasn't spoken to, not for a long time. Nobody seemed to be hovering over her watching her every move, so she had a few seconds to herself to assess the situation and her possible captors, or saviors. Already they were better than HYDRA had been, but it could be a trick. E-11 thought about what she remembered about getting there. They left me in the cells as usual as of late. But this time they had been removing files, burning suspicious things, and were gone longer than a few days. They had to be clearing out, the realization that they were going to leave her there made E-11 suddenly terrified. A few memories of being alone in the dark for so long made her panic rise. So much for being sneaky and getting a feel for this place. E-11 glanced towards the open door, then to the nearby window assessing which would be easier to escape from quickly.

"You know you shouldn't even think about it, this place is heavily guarded and FRIDAY would alert me if you even got close to the door" a man, she recognized quickly as Tony Stark said hovering just in her line of sight, he walked over to stand over the bed E-11 was lying on.

"So what's your name kiddo?" Stark asked casually, clearly, he didn't see her as a threat, not that she was much of one, her powers were useless to HYDRA, how quickly would SHIELD assume the same and cast her aside as well. The idea didn't sit well with E-11, being alone in the dark for so long had taken a toll on her. Her breath came in faster, struggling to grasp one thought that would bring her back to the present, E-11 started to freak out, yet again. Her eyes darted around before her arms wrapped themselves over her head trying to block out the whooshing sound. Although she knew it was useless, it was the sound of her heart frantically trying to beat out of her chest, her hands trembled. They would release their energy if she wasn't careful. 'focus. focus' E-11 tried with no avail. A flurry of voices were around her, none she could catch until one spoke in Russian. Her head flew up, her eyes blurry, and wet still managed to make out the face of a man she had seen many times before in the files and videos HYDRA had shown her, brainwashed her with more like it. '_The Winter Soldier_' she thought to herself still trying to remember how to breathe, Tony beside her his eyebrows sat in a furrow '_Worried_' she thought to herself before frowning and looking at Captain America. '_Steve Rogers_' She thought before watching his breathing.

Breathe In.

Breathe Out.

Breathe In.

Breathe Out.

E-11 finally seemed to get a hold of herself before she made the smallest mistake. It was one of the reasons she was a failure, unable to control herself they had repeated over and over. A slight movement of her hand, unwrapping it from herself sent a blast of energy towards the Winter Soldier.

"No!" Steve yelled, reaching out for her, as she tried to bring her arms in towards her body, the look of panic and fear etching itself on her face. Tony thankfully had a suit on him at all times, suiting up he was able to hold E-11 in a tight bear-like hug.

'_No, no, no, no_' This couldn't be happening, they will send her back to Hydra, she will be locked away again she thought to try to control herself

"Hey Cap a little help here?" Tony struggled out still holding onto E-11's arms, she tried to stop the blasts but it was no use

"Little busy" Steve replied annoyed, trying to get his friend up off the floor who was still being blasted by blue waves of energy

"Here," Bruce came over with a quick prick and everything went dark for E-11 once again.

* * *

"So, she doesn't even have a name?" Bruce asked incredulously

"Well not one that she probably recognizes anymore, Says here her name was Lea Shepherd," Steve said reading over a beige manilla folder full of papers

"Not many do, who are captured by Hydra" Nat replied her tone as neutral like she was simply was discussing the weather, "Was there a number associated with her file?" she asked

"Uhh yeah, it's...E-11" Bruce replied earning him a nod from Natasha.

"That's probably what she knows herself to be called then" Nat replied, the corners of her mouth tugging downwards, Bruce, and Steve frowned in response not happy with what HYDRA could have done to this kid.

Once again E-11 opened her eyes trying to focus on the voice and breathing like a normal person. Surely they would send her away for sure now. Bruce was the first to notice their little energy blaster was awake again.

"Uh guys?" he said, the team looking to him then to her, causing her to look painfully ashamed of what had happened

"Cheer up kid, it was only Bucky you almost obliterated," Tony said jokingly, slapping Steve on the back earning him a glare from Steve. E-11 frowned not knowing that Bucky was actually the Winter Soldier.

"The Winter Soldier," Steve said quietly reading her face, she tried miserably to hide the surprise that crossed her face. E-11 started chewing on her bottom lip nervously, it was another one of the bad habits that she tried to break herself from many times. Nat picked up on the subtle mood change.

"He's not how you knew him," she said looking straight into E-11's eyes "Did they call you E-11?" she asked knowingly

E-11 nodded slightly, she hated that she couldn't remember her real name and the only thing she was ever called was a number. It stood for experiment 11, meaning she was the 11th experiment at the base. There had been more before her and there would be more after her.

"Would you like to know what your name was before?" Nat asked since the girls' attention was still on her, she nodded slowly, seemingly unsure if she really wanted to know "Lea" Nat replied looking towards the others in the room, Steve, Bruce, and Bucky stood quietly waiting for a response. Lea again just nodded tucking away the information for later. Still trying to stay aware and calm in her situation.

*Beep-beep-beep-beep*

Lea looked over at the strange machine she noticed she was hooked up to, it wasn't something she had seen before and suddenly she felt afraid again, the blue energy began to form in her balled up fists.

"Hey now, don't go blasting us again, it's just to keep you hydrated, and to give you nutrients" Tony said stepping towards Lea, he continued to make small talk, mostly with himself since Lea had yet to answer about technology, and SHIELD and the team until Lea fell quietly asleep again.

* * *

"Hey look who is coming around again, you alright there kid?" Tony asked as Lea, she nodded before closing her eyes slightly, her stomach was nauseous, and her head felt like a ton of bricks had fallen on it. Blinking a few times to ease the pain, Lea looked around to the others in the room they had her in now. Tony noticed and decided to introduce the team, all who were there anyways.

"This is Bruce Banner, he helped save you" Tony said gesturing to the kind doctor looking person beside her bed "You know me, Tony Stark aka Iron Man aka I also saved you" and this is "Steve Rogers, Captain America, team leader even though I pay for everything and make cool stuff" Tony said rolling his eyes slightly, earning him a glare from Steve, "There's more of us, you can meet them later but we need to ask a few things of you first"

"Tony she only just woke up, give her time," Steve said softly, giving Lea a small smile

"Yes, but if we want to ever be able to let her out of the room we need to know the extent of her powers, or if she's a good guy or a bad guy, now Lea, can I call you that?" Tony asked looking back towards Lea smiling, she nodded "Okay great, so are you a good guy or a bad guy?" Lea didn't answer, she just chewed her lip.

If I answer them, she thought, then HYDRA might find me, they might even be part of HYDRA. This could be a trick, a pretty elaborate trick to test me, I cannot trust them, not yet.

"Okay, are you going to hurt us?" Tony tried again, his voice shaking Lea from her thoughts, she shook her head quickly

"Alright, are you going to blast us with that magic air?" Tony asked again, grinning, much to the other twos annoyance, Lea frowned again and shook her head

"Okay there, it's settled she's fine, once she's ready she can have her own room and we can be all hunky-dory," Tony said, clapping his hands together and walking towards the door

"Tony...I don't..." Steve began

"Ahh nope, bye guys" Tony replied, leaving the room, Steve following and Bruce writing down a few things in Leas chart.

* * *

"...So you'll be staying with us for a little while, we can't just let you wander around New York on your own" Tony had been rattling off random information for the past few minutes but Lea admittedly had been preoccupied taking in all the sights around her. She had never been in such an amazing building, it was full of all kinds of technology that she couldn't even begin to imagine what it was for.

"Hello, earth to the air bender" Lea nearly ran into an amused looking Tony Stark, Lea smirked in response, still not yet trusting her voice or what would happen when she used it.

"Mhmm right so ready to go meet the rest of the gang? It's movie night" Tony said not waiting for an answer and heading towards the door that was presumably the living room. Lea followed quietly, although she had already met half of them, she had limited contact with groups of people for the past two years.

"Hey!" Peter called from one of the coaches excitedly waving in their direction, his smile faltered only slightly when he spotted Lea behind Tony

"Hey kid, don't tell me we are watch Star Wars again" Tony tried to sound unhappy but his smile gave him away

"No, it's not my turn to pick, it's yours"

"Ahh well in that case" Tony replied walking over to the group, as Lea stood awkwardly a few feet behind, trying to will the ground to swallow her up. It didn't work, a few people were still looking at her questioningly except the few she knew, Banner seemed the most genuine, he gave her a small smile and nod of his head, and Steve his face was a tight lipped smile that said he probably wished she wasn't there.

"Oh right, yeah, this is Lea, to whoever hasn't met her yet, and bonus, she will be staying with us for the next...oh I dunno while" Tony told the group earning him frowns, eyebrow raises, and questioning looks all around.

"Okay fine, introductions, Lea this is Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye or Legolas, super archer. Umm, over here is Bruce Banner, you know him, but not the big green guy he turns into"

"Tony..." Steve said warningly

"That brings us to Captain America, or, Steve Rogers, you already met, then his best buddy Bucky Barnes, the tin man, you met him too" Lea eyes widened again as they had before, which most of the Avengers noticed, especially since her breathing got slightly more rapid after that. Tony pretended not to notice, but put a comforting hand on her shoulder and continued rattling on.

"Pete, aka Spider-man, ignore the man part, he's still a child, and his friend Ned, also Sam, aka the Falcon, and not here are Thor, Rodney, Pepper, and Wanda, but I think she should be along shortly she doesn't want to miss this movie" Tony finished before jumping on the couch next to Peter, taping the spot beside him. Thankfully it was the end of the couch so Lea didn't have to sit next to anyone else and explain herself, at least not yet. Despite the dim lighting during the movie Lea found herself watching the Avengers, she was reading the lips of Natashia and Barton who sat on the couch directly across from them. From what she could make out they were fine with her being there but keeping their guard up just in case, they also kept switching languages so it made it ever harder to figure it out. Suddenly, Nat looked over and mouthed something causing Lea to swallow hard and look away, her face beet red.

"How do we know she isn't a spy for HYDRA?" Nat spoke up, mostly to Tony, over the sounds of cars racing on the tv screen. Tony looked over to Nat, then to Lea then back again and shrugged returning his gaze back to the movie.

Lea curled her legs under the blanket more covering her too big grey Stark Industries sweat pants and equally too big black hoodie, she watched Peter as he spoke animatedly to Ned, and Tony. She figured them to be similar age to herself and wondered what his life was like, suddenly wanting to know more about him. Lea was generally closed off, Peter was usually in the lab with Tony from what she could tell now that she had been out of the hospital wing for a few days. Tony had mostly been the one to visit her, sometimes Banner but his seemed like only medical visits, Lea assumed this was all for their safety.

* * *

After the movie night, Lea was allowed to wander around more, as long as she was with someone at all times. So, she felt like she had just been watching the team a lot lately. Not that it mattered to her, she preferred it over talking, and letting people in. She watched as Tony fiddled with another one of his contraptions, making notes to FRIDAY occasionally giving her a nod or glance. Lea figured he was just trying to figure her out, they all were in their own ways. She could feel it, every time she entered a room where someone was already occupying. She had only been at the Avengers base for a few weeks but she couldn't shake the feeling of being out of place. Pete fit in, he was like a son to all of them but her, she was an outsider, someone without control of her powers. She wasn't particularly smart, or capable with her abilities, she was overly stubborn and had frequent panic attacks, not that she would let anyone know that. Although she guessed that Bucky knew because every night since the first time she had one here he was waiting in the living room lounging on one of the chairs trying to seem nonchalant. Lea liked that about Bucky, his presence still frightened her, but Nat and Steve had reassured her enough times for her to be comforted by his presence. Especially after a nightmare, he would quietly watch tv until she fell asleep on the couch, then he'd always cover her with a soft, warm blanket before leaving her for the night.

* * *

HEY! So...What do you guys think? I have been editing and playing around with this story for months trying to make it readable and not too BORING! Hopefully I've done a decent job, please let me know. I have more written but don't want to spend time on a dud!


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Lea watched as Bucky and Steve sparred on the mat. She could tell they knew each others moves before they even made them. But, not out of skill, out of familiarity. She had plenty of time to look up most of the Avengers online, or write questions to Pete, sometimes actually asking them aloud which made him always give her a shocked look before answering. He was easy to read, many of them were for super heroes, the only two she couldn't were the two super spies, Nat and Clint which made sense. Lea continued to watch the two Avengers but zoned out after a few minutes thinking of how her parents had passed away and wondering about the Avengers parents.

* * *

The night Lea lost her parents was like every other normal night, it rarely is something substantial or earth shattering that results in torn apart families and foster children.

"See you later mom"

"Where do you think you're going? It's already 9 pm" Lea's mom asked

"I told you the other day, a girl named Sarah in my class is having a sleepover tonight, I'm 14 now mom, I'm not a little kid anymore" she replied trying to sound confident but her voice waivered slightly

"Right, and you can handle yourself against the world now?" her mom asked sarcastically, knowing it drove Lea crazy

"Honestly mom, it's just a sleepover, it's not like I am a prisoner here" she replied, her 14 year old attitude taking over

"Sorry Lee you aren't going, you know your dad wouldn't like the idea either"

"Yeah well, it's not like he's here, is he?" Lea replied her face flushed, and her hands clenched involuntarily

"Hey..." her mom said softly,her eyes flickered towards Leas hands, "What did we say about getting angry?" she asked, raising her hands slightly

"I know, I know" Lea replied "I've got to control my emotions or tear down our apartment...again" she mimicked robotically, rolling her eyes

"So, should we watch a movie tonight? just you and me and some popcorn?" her mother asked looking for a truce

"Nah, I think I'll go read in my room for a bit" she replied walking back towards her bedroom. She had been angry towards her mother more frequently now, it was a struggle to contain her emotions. She wanted a life of her own, she was 14 and had no real friends, most of her life had been spent travelling from place to place with no place to call home. To be honest, Lea was exhausted, her mother and her had gone for a long hike the night before as they always did when her father was off on a job.

*Ting*

Lea flopped onto her bed looking at the new message on her phone, it was from Sarah

-Coming out 2nite?-S

-The boss wants me here :(

-Pffft cmon, for me 3

Lea sighed slightly, before pushing herself off her bed and changing into something more suited for sneaking out. She had done this before and knew her mother would forgive her eventually. After a quick glance at her appearance, Lea nodded slightly, her maple brown hair was in a loose braid, her cheeks were always tinged a little pink for whatever reason, and her eyes a golden colour nobody else really shared with her shone back at her determined.

-Be there in 10

Lea sent her text then slipped her phone into her back pocket before skillfully making her way out of her window and down the fire escape. It was a chilly night, but soon enough she wound up at Sarahs place to meet her and the other girls.

* * *

By the time Lea checked her phone again it was nearing 12 am, feeling mildly guilty she excused herself from the group, and made her way quickly home. As soon as she arrived home the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, something felt off. She barrelled up the fire escape taking the stairs two at a time but still trying to keep as quiet as possible. Lea realized the house was quiet, but not how it normally was. Every night her mother turned on the radio when she went to bed, when her father was out of town. Lea looked at a quickly scrawled note on the table in her mothers handwriting. 'I know you snuck out Lea, we will talk when I get back, your father is in trouble, stay inside, stay safe. Xoxo Mom'

But that was the last Lea heard from her mother, she never came back, days later police showed up at the door to take her away without much explanation. That's how she ended up in that foster home when HYDRA found her. Lea realized she was around some brilliant people who could potentially help her find out what really happened to her parents. Lea jumped up causing both Steve and Bucky to stop what they were doing and watch as she ran from the training room.

"Stark!" Lea said bursting into his lab where Bruce and him were working on various projects at once

"Lea, is everything okay? You're...talking again?" he asked. Tony Stark was a smart man, he knew eventually Lea would come around again and he decided to take this opportunity to listen to whatever she had to tell him. "What do you need?" he asked not moving from where he was working.

"My family...I have no idea what really happened to them. I remember what happened right before my foster home and HYDRA but I dont know where they went, or if they're really dead..." Lea said, she knew most people would be crying at this realization but she wasn't most people and knew despite being with the Avengers for nearly 3 months that HYDRA could still be watching however unlikely it seemed.

"Hey kid, do I look like I'd leave a puzzle like that unsolved, besides I have a few high powered people that I know that are particularly good at searching including multiple AI's and Vision if he's around somewhere, we can start ASAP if you'd like?" Tony asked now standing in front of Lea, who nodded in reply.

"Now don't go all quiet on me again, I have things we need to talk about, c'mon let's go to the car I'll call Happy" Tony said already walking away towards the elevator. Lea followed sending a small wave to Bruce before stepping into the elevator.

* * *

**Hey! Sorry this chapter is a little short, but I am trying to get as much out as I can during my free time during the holidays :) **


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Happy sat in front of the big black SUV while Tony and Lea sat in the back. At first Lea was reluctant to talk again, instead listening to Tony talk about all his new projects, and the last mission with the Avengers.

"Tony?" Lea hesitated before going on, waiting for his approval, which was easy, he had her full attention whenever she spoke. Tony tried to hide it but he cared an awful lot to those he had chosen to let in. "I am afraid to speak most of the time, I am afraid HYDRA is spying on me and will just show up to take me away and leave me alone in that dark, cold room again" Lea spoke quietly, but the car was even quieter, Happy didn't say a word as he drove to the outskirts of the city, where there were more trees than concrete buildings and it was calm and free.

"You know we will protect you, you do live with the Avengers, which happens to include a few spies, inhanced humans, and military trained people. You are also able to protect yourself now, I heard you have been watching some of the others train maybe you should show them what you know how to do." Tony replied, he spoke to Lea the same way he spoke to Peter, like their were his own kids.

"I am afraid I will hurt someone, I did blast a hole in more than one building from what I can remember" Lea replied, the corner of her mouth lifting only slightly, Tony burst out laughing,

"Yeah, I've done that a few times myself kid" he chuckled "But really, the safest place to work out your powers and learn how to control them is with us at the compound, and we can get whoever you want to help you"

"Really?"

"Do you trust me?" Tony asked, looking into Leas eyes searching for his answer before she said it

"Yes"

"Well good, then we are going to do some training and get you ready, you've been cooped up too much anyways, we could use someone like you out in the field anyway" Tony replied, looking at Happy to signal him to drive them back to the compound. Lea nodded in reply as she sometimes did when she was thinking things over.

* * *

Two weeks passed since their drive into the country, and their surprisingly long talk. Tony had kept his word and let Lea train with different Avengers until she was more comfortable using her powers. The training ground at the compound were more equipped to handle her powers then apartments in New York. Lea even managed to yet again land Bucky flat on his back, along with Steve with her powers. A fact that they all like to tease them about over family dinners, and movie nights.

* * *

"Hey! It' Thanksgiving!" Peter said enthusiastically jumping over the back of the couch where Lea sat tracing words that both Tony and Bruce had written for her.

"What'cha doing?" he asked slumping his lanky form beside Lea earning him a groan and a shove

"Writing" she replied tapping her paper with her pencil. Pete looked over the words, some were basic words she had already learned to write. Brother, Sister, Family, Fight, and names of the Avengers but some words Tony clearly threw in like Lab, Particle, Atom and Jarvis. Peter smiled and rolled his eyes at the man, of course he was trying to get Lea into science too. That was something else that nobody thought of when they found Lea, it was another puzzle that kept them up working late into the night. She couldn't write and reading was slightly dodgy as well. It didn't make any sense since she wasn't taken by HYDRA until she was 14. It was on Tonys ever growing to-do list of things to figure out.

"Everyone is coming tonight for dinner, did you smell Steve cooking?" Peter hung around Lea more now and even let her look over his homework despite her not understanding most of it. Most of the Avengers had been kind to Lea, and accepted her into their weird little family.

"Race you!" Lea replied before pushing Pete into the couch one more time and bounding off towards the kitchen

"Not what I meant..." Pete huffed before following behind. The smell and sounds hit them even before they rounded the corner towards the kitchen. Old music, dishes clanging, and people chatting filled the air.

"Hey Peter, Lea" Steve said as he stirred something in a pot on the stove, Lea snuck over and peeked in the pot. She remembered pretty quickly that it was hot when you touched that after Nat had to bandage her burn her first week at the base.

"Hey, no peeking, it's almost ready, help Clint and Sam set the table you two punks"

"Lea c'mon" Pete called

"Here" Pete handed her a plate causing Lea to look at the table then to Clint as he put another across the table with a wink as he did. Lea smiled and nodded, this was fancier than their normal family suppers and way more dishes, and utensils then Lea ever remembered using.

"That's a lot of people" she said before grabbing more plates and setting them along the table.

"Lea have you met everyone yet? Thor? Loki? Pepper? Rodney?" Sam asked, Lea frowned, she had been there nearly 3 months, and there were still more people she hadn't met?

"They're family too" Tony explained, walking into the kitchen right on cue as usual with Pepper, Happy, and Rodney in tow. Lea froze only for a minute, only enough for those who were really paying attention to notice.

"Family" whispered Barton from behind Lea as he placed a guiding hand on her shoulder calming the slight blue glow forming in her right palm.

"Ahh that turkey smells amazing Steve" Rodney said walking over

"Sorry, am I making you drool?" Steve joked before adding "It's actually finished, so you're all here in perfect time"

"When do I not do anything perfect?" Tony asked smirking, earning him a light smack in the shoulder from Pepper

"Hey there" Happy said approaching Clint, Peter, and Lea

"Hi Happy!"

"Hey Pete, staying out of trouble?" Happy asked

"Ahh always, you know me!" Peter replied with a grin

"Yeah I know that's why I asked" Happy said turning back towards Lea, who thankfully remembered what Nat and Steve had taught her trying to help her remember normal human contact.

"Hi Happy, How are you?" she asked

"I'm good, and starving" Happy replied his stomach growling slightly after the last word causing the two to smile at each other

The two grabbed a seat at the table along with everyone else taking in the vast amount of food. Turkey, ham, potatoes, every vegetable you could think of, gravy, stuffing, you name it and it was there pilled high. Everyone began to dig in, laughing and talking loudly. Lea was sitting between Happy and Peter, Tony beside Peter then various people around the table. Nat and Clint were across from them and again occasionally switching languages. Lea loved listening to the missions they had gone on, after every one she would go find one of them and get them to tell her all about it.

Rodney stood up, tapping his glass as he did, causing everyone to stop and look towards him.

"I'd like to thank everyone for coming today, Tony and Pepper for hosting this crazy crowd, and Steve for cooking this massively amazing meal, Cheers!"

"Cheers!" called everyone

* * *

A few hours passed and many of the Avengers sat around the living area enjoying some drinks and chatting when Tony decided to speak up on behalf of the kids.

"I think we should bring Pete and Lea on the next mission" Tony said matter-of-factly

"Siberia?" Nat asked, confirming what she already knew

"Yeah, they have the training they just need to get out and do a real mission" he replied

"Do you really think it's a good idea, another Hydra base?" Steve asked, always going back to the negative side

"I think they can do it, I've watched them" Wanda spoke up from her spot next to Vision, who nodded his head in agreement

"Okay, well is there anyone besides Steve who doesn't think they should go?" Rodney asked the group, only one hand went up, Banner

"Really Banner? You were one of the first people around Lea every day" Tony said

"Exactly why, she's seen a lot of trauma is it really the right time to bring her back into it?" Banner replied, wringing his hands

"We can't exactly keep her held in here like a prisoner forever" Nat answered looking pointedly into Bruce's eyes, he looked away knowing he wouldn't win this one and chose to wait it out to see what happened in the aftermath.

"Fine" he sighed in defeat, rubbing his neck not being able to shake the gut feeling he had, Steve had the same one but also decided to go with the group.

"So it's settled we leave in 48 hours to Siberia with the whole shebang, maybe take out a few bad guys along the way" Tony said non chalant like they were deciding what place they were going to eat supper at.

Little did any of them know but Pete had been hiding not too far away, listening in with his advanced hearing he jumped up and silently celebrated with Lea when they decided to let them go. The two literally crashing into a smirking Clint who had decided to 'head to bed'. He didn't say a word, but Lea and Pete realized he knew they were there the whole time.

"How does he always know?" Peter asked Lea who shrugged in response following him down the hall

* * *

**Hey! So I know again lacking on the action! Next time! What do you think?**


End file.
